ROMANIA'S DANUBE DELTA: BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY – Europe’s largest wetland and surrounding steppes (2024)

FAQs

Why is the Danube Delta important? ›

The Danube Delta is the largest European wetland and reed bed, and also constitutes Europe's largest water purification system. The area is particularly well known for its abundance of birdlife, with the presence of 312 important bird species, many of which use the Delta as an important stopover and breeding area.

The greater part of the Danube Delta lies in Romania (Tulcea County), with a small part in Ukraine (Odessa Oblast). Its approximate surface area is 4,152 square kilometres (1,603 square miles), of which 3,446 km² (1,331 sq mi) is in Romania.

Most of the delta lies within Romania, but some of its northern fringes and most recently formed areas are in Ukraine. A total area of 679,000 ha of the delta is under legal protection including floodplains and marine areas. The core of the reserve (312,400 ha) was designated as a “World Natural Heritage Site” in 1991.

The waters of the Danube, which flow into the Black Sea, form the largest and best preserved of Europe's deltas. The Danube delta hosts over 300 species of birds as well as 45 freshwater fish species in its numerous lakes and marshes.

Danube Delta | Rewilding Europe. Where the mighty Danube river meets the Black Sea, it has created a massive delta land, Europe's largest wetland area. It is still surprisingly wild and relatively undestroyed.

"Despite the rumours, the Danube Delta is currently a safe destination, as it is one of the most secluded, unique and protected tourist areas in Romania, where tourists can spend unforgettable holidays in nature," the association's statement reads, Economica.net reported.

The Danube Delta is enchanting with its natural wonders, making it the perfect place to visit all year round. Even so, the region has times within the year when nature provides spectacular views that are worth a visit.

There is only one more Eocene crocodile skull in Romania known to day, assigned to a new species of the genus Diplocynodon (Codrea & Venczel 2020), discovered in the Cluj Limestone Formation (Upper Priabonian), in the former Cluj Mănăștur limestone quarry.

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station shot this photograph of the Volga River Delta, which stretches 160 kilometers (100 miles) across Russia's Astrakhan Oblast. It is Europe's largest river delta, situated where the Volga pours its fresh water and sediment into the northwest sector of the Caspian Sea.

Fish, shellfish, reptiles and amphibians

The delta's estuaries and wetlands provide nurseries and spawning grounds for huge numbers of aquatic organisms, from commercially important seafood species (crawfish, shrimp, blue crabs, menhaden, drum and others) to alligator gar, paddlefish and the endangered pallid sturgeon.

What do you mean delta? ›

/ˈdel·tə/ an area of low, flat land, sometimes shaped approximately like a triangle, where a river divides into several smaller rivers before flowing into the sea: the Mississippi delta.

» Formed over a period of more than 10,000 years, the Danube Delta continues to grow due to the 67 million tons of alluvia deposited every year by the Danube River.

The old town of Tulcea is the main entry gate into the Danube Delta and also an important industrial port town. You can reach the city by car, from Constanta in almost 2 hours (130km) or Bucuresti in 3 hours30minutes (300km). Many choose Tulcea as a base for day trips to the Danube Delta.

Over 80 per cent of the original floodplain area along the Danube and its main tributaries has been lost since the beginning of the 19th century. In addition, as part of the EU Trans-European Network for Transport (TEN-T), new infrastructures are already planned for the Danube.

On the fluvial sandbanks grow many species of willows, black poplars, white poplars, mistletoes, sea buckthorns, blackberries, and near the seashore, wormwoods, salt grass and sand bindwind.

The Danube and its tributaries play host to a unique mix of species, with about 2,000 vascular plants and more than 5,000 animal species, including over 40 mammals, about 180 breeding birds, about 100 fish species, a dozen reptiles as well as amphibians.

Otters, weasel, minks, foxes, wolfs and black bears can be found, along with turtles and colonies of snakes. The Danube River Basin is home to the longest marshland of the European continent and has one of the greatest stretches of reedbeds in the world to grow on the bed of a river.

Situated in the heart of South America, the Pantanal is the world's largest tropical wetland. At 42 million acres, the Pantanal covers an area slightly larger than England and sprawls across three countries—Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay.

Around 300,000 people live in the 5,908,074 hectare Grand Affluents RAMSAR wetland, with the four major tributaries to the Congo flowing through it being the origin of its name as well as making the area an important transport network.

Wetland ecosystems hold an important part of Europe's biodiversity. They provide ideal conditions for a vast diversity of habitats and species. They are especially important for birds, providing vital nesting and migratory flyway areas, as well as for other fauna species, such as dragonflies and amphibians.

What part of Romania is on the Black Sea? ›

The main cities in the region are Constanța (Romania's largest port), Mangalia, Năvodari and Sulina. All of these (except Sulina) are located in Constanta county, one of two Romanian counties with a coastline.

2,850 km

Danube River / Length

The Danube itself comes through the lower part of Ukraine; its length in the mouth is 174km. The Danube is divided here into three braches, one of which – the 112km Kiliya branch – forms the border between Ukraine and Romania.

Other species that can be found on the Romanian coast include two species of rays, two species of sharks and dozens of species of teleostean fish.

Sharing habitat with brown bears, lynx and wild boars, wolves number at least 2,500 in Romania and perhaps as many as 4,000. Romanian gray wolves are impressive beasts.

Hotter temperatures may have spawned an invasion of black widow spiders this summer on Romania's sea shore. Unusually high numbers of the dangerous spiders have invaded between the cities of Agigea and Eforie, Gheorghe Mustata, a marine biology expert, told the Web site Hotnews.ro.

This Envisat image highlights the Ganges Delta, the world's largest delta, in the south Asia area of Bangladesh (visible) and India. The delta plain, about 350-km wide along the Bay of Bengal, is formed by the confluence of the rivers Ganges, the Brahmaputra and Meghna.

High-destructive deltas form where the shoreline energy is high and much of the sediment delivered by the river is reworked by wave action or longshore currents before it is finally deposited.

Danube River

A delta is a wetland area that forms as river waters empty into a larger body of water. The wetland area is created by the buildup of sediment (dirt and rock) where a river empties into a larger body of water.

Are alligators in Mississippi River? ›

Once considered an endangered species in the late 1960s, American Alligators have made a big comeback in the swampy marsh areas surrounding the Mississippi River. It is estimated that there are just over 30,000 alligators in Mississippi, with most centralized in the southern portion of the state.

If you're wondering what's lurking beneath the murky surface of this iconic American waterway, you're not alone. While it might be safe for a quick dip, swimming in the Mississippi River is generally not recommended due to its high levels of pollution.

There are four main types of deltas classified by the processes that control the build-up of silt: wave-dominated, tide-dominated, Gilbert deltas, and estuarine deltas.

The delta male is the 'normal' guy in the socio sexual hierarchy. He isn't a leader like the alpha. He's relatively easy to please, and he takes pride in his role. Delta males often get married, have families, and fulfill normal (yet important) roles in the community.

It was derived from the Phoenician letter dalet 𐤃. Letters that come from delta include Latin D and Cyrillic Д. A river delta (originally, the delta of the Nile River) is so named because its shape approximates the triangular uppercase letter delta.

» Formed over a period of more than 10,000 years, the Danube Delta continues to grow due to the 67 million tons of alluvia deposited every year by the Danube River.

The river Danube flows through ten countries, and on it lie four European capital cities. It is 3000 km long and its basin covers 20% of EU territory and around 115 million people.

Deltas are wetlands that form as rivers empty their water and sediment into another body of water, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. Although very uncommon, deltas can also empty into land. A river moves more slowly as it nears its mouth, or end.

The Danube Delta Romania is part of the Pannonian steppe ecosystem of Eastern Europe, but the Delta itself hosts 23 natural ecosystems. Due to the vast amounts of wetlands, the aquatic environment dominates much of its surface, with terrestrial environments being present only on a couple of higher grounds.

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station shot this photograph of the Volga River Delta, which stretches 160 kilometers (100 miles) across Russia's Astrakhan Oblast. It is Europe's largest river delta, situated where the Volga pours its fresh water and sediment into the northwest sector of the Caspian Sea.

What animals live in deltas? ›

Fish, shellfish, reptiles and amphibians

The delta's estuaries and wetlands provide nurseries and spawning grounds for huge numbers of aquatic organisms, from commercially important seafood species (crawfish, shrimp, blue crabs, menhaden, drum and others) to alligator gar, paddlefish and the endangered pallid sturgeon.

Summer is the best season to visit the Danube Delta. You are allowed to fish starting June, the weather is great also and everything's brimming with life and color. So if you want the true & complete Danube Delta experience, visit during the summer, ideally July or August.

WELCOME TO THE DANUBE RIVER

It is located in Central and Eastern Europe. The Danube was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire, and today flows through 10 countries, more than any other river in the world.

Danube. / (ˈdænjuːb) / noun. a river in central and SE Europe, rising in the Black Forest in Germany and flowing to the Black Sea.

One of Europe's worst droughts in decades has left the water level of parts of the Rhine and the Danube Rivers too low for ships to pass, paralyzing commerce and causing disruptions for companies that transport goods and commodities like oil and coal.

A delta is a wetland area that forms as river waters empty into a larger body of water. The wetland area is created by the buildup of sediment (dirt and rock) where a river empties into a larger body of water.

This Envisat image highlights the Ganges Delta, the world's largest delta, in the south Asia area of Bangladesh (visible) and India. The delta plain, about 350-km wide along the Bay of Bengal, is formed by the confluence of the rivers Ganges, the Brahmaputra and Meghna.

The Nile delta in the Mediterranean Sea, the Mississippi delta in the Gulf of Mexico, the Yellow River delta in the Bohai Sea and the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta in the Bay of Bengal rank among the most famous.

Climate. The Danube Delta experiences a continental climate and is Romania's driest and sunniest region. The Black Sea strongly influences the delta's climate, and its average annual temperature is about 11°C, with the average precipitation ranging between 300 to 400mm per year.

Danube River

What happened to the Danube River? ›

Over 80 per cent of the original floodplain area along the Danube and its main tributaries has been lost since the beginning of the 19th century. In addition, as part of the EU Trans-European Network for Transport (TEN-T), new infrastructures are already planned for the Danube.